Q: Why has the status changed from "Reviews completed" to "Under review" and then to "Reviewers assigned"?

Detailed Question -

I submitted a paper to a Springer journal about 2 months ago. The online tracking system status was as follows: 17 Apr: New submission 18 Apr: Editor assigned 08 May: Under review 27 May: Reviews completed 29 May: Under review 06 Jun: Under review 25 Jun: Reviewers assigned. Could you please tell me what is the meaning of under review and reviews completed in this situation? Was the manuscript all this time with the associate editor and just sent now to peer review?

2 Answers to this question
Answer:

Your assumption is correct. This manuscript uses the status "Under review" both for internal and external review. Once the paper was assigned to an editor, he/she conducted an internal review, which is also known as the initial screening. During this time, the status changed to "Under review." Once the initial screening was done, the status changed to "required reviews completed." However, I'm not sure why it changed to "under review" once again. One possibility is that the editor consulted some other editorial board member to decide whether the paper should be desk rejected or sent out for peer review. The status change to "Reviewers assigned" clearly indicates that review invitations have been sent out. Once the required number of reviewers accept the invitation, the status will change to "Under review" once again and the actual peer review process will begin.

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Comment

Answer: Well, I get the rejection. The editor's letter include the comments from 2 refeers. However, they were named reviewer#2 and reviewer#4.I submitted the manuscript to another journal after making revision based on the comments of the first journal's reviewers and now it is in the second round of revision.
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